Crimson Eyes
by Jager Nod
Summary: What happens when Itachi is sent to retrieve a young diclonius from an orphanage? NarutoXElfen Lied xo.I've seen lots of xos, but never with Elfen Lied and Naruto, although I may have overlooked them... Rating subject to change
1. Chapter 1

**I'd been thinking on doing a fanfic like this for a very long time now, and I have been having alot of trouble putting it together. I wasn't sure whether or not I'd butcher the idea or what, if I do, sorry, please tell me what I did wrong in the review. Hopefully I can fix it. If not, I'll at least try to avoid that mistake in my future works. Btw I saw this disclaimer on Akatsuki Employee Handbook** **and it was the coolest disclaimer I'd ever seen so I had to use it.**

**Disclaimer: This site is called Fan Fiction dot net. If you cannot figure out from that that the following is a work of fan fiction and that the characters and the setting do not belong to the manual author, please contact your village head and inform him/her that your village is no longer missing its idiot.**

**P.S.-**

Normal

**Author Note**

_Thought_

**P.S...S?-I posted this chapter, and the next day I had two comments, thx KamaraKitsuia and AlsoSprachOdin for your input. I have revised the chapter somewhat, and hopefully repaired the mistakes you pointed out. I'll be posting the next chapter ASAP!**

Deep within a dark, damp cave, two solid figures, standing side by side, could be seen conversing with another, who was extremely dark and somewhat transparent. The slow, steadily dripping water along several of the ends of the cave simply managed to add to the foreboding that all who approached would feel.

"Your next mission, will be to obtain a young girl. She has pink hair, and small horns." Declared the commanding, if somewhat static voice of the Akatsuki Leader. Although he was difficult to see, it was obvious that he had a commanding aura to him. His eyes were easily identified by a number of concentric circles around the pupil. His hair was tall and spiky, and he stood not much higher than the average man.

"I see..." Itachi stated plainly. Itachi's Leaf Village headband had had a cut through it since he was only thirteen. His crimson eyes each had three tomoe around the pupil, and the lines that receded down his face, starting from his eyes made him feel to others as if he could not be surprised by any situation.

"Is she a new jinchuuriki target then?" Questioned Kisame. Kisame's blue skin, gills, tall spiky blue hair, and massive sword wrapped in bandages made him easily recognizable.

"No. She is being targeted because she is in possession of a very unique ability. She has a 'weapon' with a two meter range. Somehow, she commands several transparent arms that are capable of vibrating at a very high frequency, so they are capable of cutting through most solid objects. They are also very strong, and would be easily capable of launching lethal projectiles from a long distance." Pein responded.

"Really? Interesting... What else do we have on her? A name, location?" Kisame eyed Pein's static projection with curiosity.

"Her location is quite difficult, however, we know exactly where she is..." Pein responded.

This caught Itachi's attention. The piercing gaze of his crimson eyes rose to meet Pein's suspicious glare. "Please explain." Itachi requested simply. His long black hair disguised some of his facial features, making him more difficult to read.

"She is roughly eight years old, and from what we know, she has no known family. She is currently living at an orphanage." The static masked the meaning.

"If so, why is it difficult?" Kisame asked, confused.

Itachi eyed Pein's projection suspiciously. _The orphanage must be heavily guarded, or... Far? _Itachi contemplated.

"She is currently living in a different dimension. One quite different from our own. It is more difficult to reach than the various animal dimensions we access when summoning creatures. However, I can summon you there." Pein continued, "Once there, you will have exactly forty-eight hours to obtain her, because after that time I will summon you back. If I were to wait too long, it may become impossible. So long as one of you is holding her tightly, she will be transported with you."

"Got it." Kisame said excited to explore a new world.

Itachi tightened his gaze upon Pein, "Why do you want her, exactly? Just because she is capable of that? Did you somehow discover a way to enhance and use her ability? It sounds great and all, but it hardly seems worth going after. Also... How did you come by this information, if she is from a completely different dimension?"

Pein grimaced, "These things are irrelevant, simply accomplish your task, and all will become clear. While there, you will need to wear these." Pein pointed to strange clothing, made out of a material Itachi had never seen.

Itachi and Kisame headed to the strange clothing, and changed immediately. They began minor experiments with their clothing, stretching it, and pulling it lightly. "Odd material," Kisame pointed out. "Yeah," agreed Itachi.

Itachi had a white button up shirt with long sleeves, and black pants. Kisame wore the same, however, he also wore a grey jacket that he left unbuttoned and a tie.

"Kisame, you may wish to use a Henge no Jutsu to disguise your appearance. If you stood out, it could cause problems." Suggested Pein.

Kisame sighed, and performed the technique. He now looked like a tall, broad man with long, flowing brown hair. He had a lightly tanned color, but still had his grin. While his gills and blue skin were disguised, his Samehada was still apparent.

"Also, you two should both remove your headbands, they may raise further questions to the locals." Pein again 'suggested.'

"Got it," complied Kisame without hesitation, as he placed his headband in the spot that the clothing had been only minutes before.

Itachi glared towards the ground, and squinted his eyes, he muttered something under his breath, and reluctantly removed the headband and placed is respectfully beside Kisame's.

Pein began performing seals. "Before we go, could you tell us a name?" Kisame asked once again. As he did, they were both transported into the alternate dimension.

When he came to, Itachi glanced over to see that Kisame was also regaining consciousness. "Kisame, are you alright?" Itachi asked with concern. "I'm fine, but, what the hell is this place?"

The two S-Class Shinobi looked around to see a completely different world. Massive steel and glass structures, metal shells with people zooming down black roads at high speeds, and people cramming the paved sidewalks.

Samehada still strapped to his back, Kisame caught more than a few odd looks. Itachi noticed that no one seemed to be holding any type of weapon whatsoever. _Very intriging world, with no one holding weapons, that must mean that this world is in a state of peace._Itachi sighed. _It's truly a shame that we have to capture a young girl, but if I back down now then Sasuke may never be strong enough to save the Leaf._

Itachi and Kisame walked along the sidewalk side by side until they saw a building that looked like it might actually be useful for public information. "Kisame, here, we may be able to find where the nearby orphanage is, and make this short."

"Right. I'll ask the lady at the desk, you can check the pamphlets." Kisame began heading to the woman standing patiently at the desk. She had dirty blond hair that was tied up in a bun. She wore a name tag on her chest that read, Akume Fiijui.

"Kisame, wait, I'll ask her, it may seem somewhat creepy to her that a large and dangerous looking man like you is searching for children that have no ties." Itachi grinned.

"I guess you're right, besides, if she's reluctant, I guess you always have your Sharingan." Shrugged Kisame as he headed to the pamphlets.

Akume looked up at Itachi, and was slightly startled when seeing his crimson eyes, but maintained her cool, "Hello sir, how may I help you?" She asked politely. Itachi looked deeply into her eyes, and her strength faded. "Yes, can you please tell me the location of all nearbye orphanages?" Akume continued looking into his eyes, "Of course, there is one in the south end of the city, and another up in the mountain to the north of here."

"Thank you." Itachi stated, and released her gaze. "Kisame, I have it, you take the south end of the city, she says there's one there, I'll check the one to the north." Ordered Itachi.

"Understood, Itachi." Kisame yawned, "I guess we can meet back here at midnight." Itachi added as they both left, and went their seperate ways.

After over an hour of walking, Itachi finally reached the front door of the orphanage. He stepped inside, and saw several women taking care of babies. As soon as he entered, the entire room looked towards him. "Pardon me, but... Would anyone happen to know of a girl with pink hair and... Small horns who lives here?" At first, the woman eyed him with suspicion, until they caught his eyes. "Of course, she should be having lunch right now in the back." "Thanks." With that, Itachi headed towards the back.

As he approached the door that the girl was supposed to be having lunch in, Itachi began hearing strange noises. "NO, Please!" He heard the voice of a child scream. Immediately, Itachi reacted, and knocked the door open. Inside were three boys and a girl with pink hair and horns. One boy was holding the girl, another was holding a puppy, and the third was holding a vase that he looked like he had been just about to use on the small puppy.

All of the boys dropped what they were holding, and stared in fear at the looming man with the piercing crimson eyes. The girl ran and cupped the puppy in her arms, and poured her pink eyes into Itachi's Sharingan, with tears rolling down her face. _I haven't seen a pain comparable to this since... _

Compassion flooded over Itachi's fierce gaze, and the girl relaxed a little. At the same time, the boys regained their composure, and began to slowly edge their way to the exit. "You." Itachi was eyeing the boy that had been holding the vase. The compassion had been replaced by his typical coldness. The boy froze, and looked up at Itachi, "Y-Yes?" Fear was lacing his voice.

"You were about to kill that puppy, weren't you?" Itachi asked with cold curiosity. Fear entered in the girl's eyes, at the same time, it left the boy's and he smiled, "No, why would you think that?" He laughed. "Why?" Itachi asked, not understanding. The boy tensed up, "I-I..."

**Thanks everyone for reading. Please comment, positive reviews and construct****ive criticism would be appreciated! I'm really sorry if it sucked or anything... If there's just minor mistakes please tell me how to fix em, and if the mistakes are really big I could always stop, xD.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I was actually kind of nervous about writing this chapter. I was thinking I may screw it up or something, but thanks to your reviews I was encouraged. Hopefully I won't dissapoint you with it or anything, just remember, if I do, please tell me in your review and I will do my best to fix it! I check this everyday. Lol, just doing heavy reading and trying to build up the courage to take a shot at the next chapter, hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: This site is called Fan Fiction dot net. If you cannot figure out from that that the following is a work of fan fiction and that the characters and the setting do not belong to the manual author, please contact your village head and inform him/her that your village is no longer missing its idiot.**

**P.S.- I was originally encouraged to write this by reading the story Flame and Rebirth by Arcia Moonsway, I absolutely loved the story, and I really hope she'll come out with a new chapter sometime soon!**

Itachi's glare had the boy completely frozen. "So then... Why were you going to kill this puppy?" Itachi asked once again._ That's the girl I am to capture. I wish there were another way; this is going to be very difficult to go through with._

The boy was completely terrified, "I-I... I uh..." He took a step back, eyes wide, and bumped into the table, knocking off the plate of half-eaten food. It fell to the ground and shattered, the food scattering all over the floor. His friends were in no better shape, and all of them were wide-eyed, looking ready to flee at the slightest hint of Itachi letting up.

Itachi took his gaze and turned it to meet with the young girl's, "Can you tell me why they were going to kill your puppy?"

The boys' mouths went agape, in absolute terror of what she may say.

The girl stood up shyly, still holding her puppy. Her eyes were focused on her shoes, and she clutched the puppy more tightly, "I... A-All of the children here are miserable, and so... The only way they can make themselves feel better, is by hurting someone who is even more miserable than they are." The girl's gaze rose to meet Itachi's, and tears were streaming down her face, "For a long time now, they've been trying to hurt me, but I've ignored them, so they thought that killing my puppy would hurt me..." She started sobbing uncontrollably and fell to her knees. She gently placed the puppy down, and it looked up at her and licked her face.

Itachi brought his gaze back to meet the gaze of the boys, "Is that so?" Anger flooded over Itachi, however, he barely allowed it to show. He raised his finger to the boys, and pointed it straight at them. The light completely left their eyes, and, after about a minute in this position, they all collapsed. Itachi looked over at the girl, and opened his hand, "They won't ever bother you again, I promise. Would you come with me please?" _I would prefer her to think of me as kind... Everyone else hates me, as they should, but, maybe it's okay if someone likes me, if only for a short time..._Itachi allowed a small, yet warm smile upon his face.

The girl's eyes widened in shock and disbelief, "Wh-What? You mean, you'd take me out of here?" The feeling of hope completely flooded her.

Itachi heard behind him another young girl, who quickly ran off after seeing him standing in the doorway. His smile broadened, still very comforting, "Of course."

The girl sniffed, rubbed her eyes, and picked up her puppy with her left arm. She walked over to Itachi, reached up, and grabbed his hand.

After Itachi continued walking past the front building, the girl stopped, "You have to sign some papers with me first before we can go."

Itachi looked down at her, "I see..." He headed towards the front building, and opened the door once again. The women all looked to him, and their eyes widened when they saw him holding the hand of the pink haired girl with horns.

A tall woman with long brown hair approached them with a completely fake smile, "Hello sir, how can I help you?"

Itachi's eyes focused into hers, "I would like to adopt this girl."

She was flooded with utter disbelief, "Of course sir, if you could just come with me, we will have you sign the papers and get all checked out." She headed for a door leading into the back.

Itachi started after her, but she then turned to him again, "Oh, you have to leave her in here for the time being."

She released Itachi's hand and looked up at him, a small hint of fear and doubt still lingering in her thoughts. "It's okay..." She said sadly.

He bent over and poked her forehead, just as he had done with Sasuke so long ago, "Don't worry, I'll be right back."

She nodded and clutched the puppy more tightly as Itachi began following the woman again. _This is too good to be true, but, I don't even know him. I haven't even asked his name... _She teared up slightly. _Don't worry, he'll get you out of here, then you can kill him and make this place into a place for a freak like you. _That voice had been tormenting her lately. However, she thought that maybe she had finally found someone who actually cared about her. _No, he hasn't done anything mean to me, he even saved my puppy. I won't kill him..._ Her eyes widened in fear. _Wh-What would I have done if he hadn't shown up when he did... And, why can't I stop thinking about killing people?_

Itachi proceeded down the hall and followed the woman into her office. It was a poor office, with a tree in the right-hand corner, a single file cabinet, and a small desk. There was a heavily cushioned chair on wheels on the end of the desk towards the window, and a small, cheap looking chair in front of the door facing the desk. Itachi seated himself on the cheap chair, while the woman walked over to the file cabinet, searched through it a minute, pulled out a folder, placed it on her desk, and finally sat down herself. She reached forward and pushed the file to Itachi, "Read this please, then fill out the information on the sheet in the back, after three preliminary review days, we will contact you." She stated professionally.

Itachi sighed, placed the file back on her desk, and closed his eyes. _Looks like I won't be able to prevent later questions... Oh well, it won't matter, we'll only be here another forty-one hours. It should be easy to conceal her during that small window of time... _

The woman eyed him suspiciously, as he slowly opened his crimson eyes and looked deeply into hers. Her eyes faded, and she passed out onto her desk. Itachi stood and opened her door. He headed down the hall quietly, and walked back into the room where he had left the girl with pink hair and horns.

She was still standing in the center of the room, being eyed with disgust by the other people within it. She tightly clasp the puppy, then turned and saw Itachi walking back into the room.

Itachi immediately expected to see a smile when he walked in, but instead she met his gaze with sadness. "Are you sure you want to adopt me..." She said quietly, almost inaudibly, "I-I'm a monster. I have these ugly horns." She said sadly.

He sighed. _I can't allow myself to get soft, but I have to take her near the meeting point and wait for Kisame. It would be much easier if she co-operates. _"Don't worry about it. Come on, let's go." He opened his hand to her, and once again, she reached up and took it.

**Thanks everyone for reading. Please comment, positive reviews and construct****ive criticism would be appreciated! I'm really sorry if it sucked or anything... If there's just minor mistakes please tell me how to fix em, and if the mistakes are really big I could always stop, xD. It's impossibly hard to get Itachi and Lucy to act in character, if I screwed either of them up too much, please let me know, and if you can, gimme a tip to help me avoid it. Lol I've actually seen every episode in eng and jap and read every chapter of naruto and elfen lied, so that kinda helps...**

**P.S.S- I don't know if you guys noticed, but, the whole reaching out his hand, and her grabbing it kinda signifies how she gave in to her evil side, except now she's accepting Itachi into her heart rather than that evil...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for sticking with me this far to all of you. These chapters are becoming more and more difficult to put together. The first had been boiling in my mind for a very long time, the second was there, although somewhat jumbled. This one was deep in the back of my mind, and was really tough to articulate. My intention is to cause you, the reader, a constant feel of nervousness, as I felt when I watched Elfen Lied for the first time. I was always nervous Lucy would kill off one of the characters I had come to like.**

**Disclaimer: This site is called Fan Fiction dot net. If you cannot figure out from that that the following is a work of fan fiction and that the characters and the setting do not belong to the manual author, please contact your village head and inform him/her that your village is no longer missing its idiot.**

**P.S.- I'm hoping that I don't make it too comfortable, cause I've noticed that in some stories the first couple chapters are great, but as the tension eases up the story becomes boring. Please tell me in your review if I've eased up the tension too much.**

As the sun began to set, a man with long black hair could be seen walking out of the forest holding the right hand of a small, pinked haired girl with horns. In her left hand she held a small puppy. The two approached the sidewalk.

Itachi looked down at the child whom had just placed her trust in him. A deep regret was tearing at his heart, however, he pushed on, and led her away from the orphanage.

The girl looked up at him, a nervous smile on her face, in her left hand was her puppy, and in her right, her hope, "S-So... Since we're gonna be together for a while, I was wandering..."

He nearly looked down at her again, however, he couldn't bring himself to face her. His attention still focused on the path ahead, Itachi responded, "Yes?"

She gripped his hand more tightly, "Wh... Why me?" _Because, he likes picking on ugly people. That's what he does for fun, and now, he has you all to himself. _She shuttered. _No..._

Itachi stopped, still holding her hand, and closed his eyes. _What can I tell her? 'Because I think you're cute?' 'Because I like your horns?' Or better yet, 'Because I've been ordered to capture you by our leader?' _"I can't stand seeing people who..." Itachi swallowed, recalling what he had done, "Who are suffering." Itachi opened his eyes, and looked at her warmly.

The girl turned her eyes from his and faced the ground. _He...He only adopted me because he saw how sad I was? Did he really go there just to find the saddest person and take them home? _The girl pulled on his arm to continue, and held back her tears.

Itachi turned his face from her and focused his attention ahead. _I suppose that wasn't the right answer... _Still looking forward, Itachi sighed. "Look, for a while now, I've been looking for the perfect younger..." Itachi's mind flashed back to his childhood, "Younger sibling. I've been looking everywhere, and, finally, I think I've found her."

The girl looked up at Itachi in surprise as he put on a convincing smile. She looked back ahead, and smiled. "What's your name?" She asked curiously. She had finally let down her guard.

To their left, the sun was setting on the ocean. The seagulls could be heard quieting, and families were leaving the beach. Fewer cars were passing by them on the street, and the people that had been cramming the sidewalks had mostly gone home. On the other side of the road, a couple was talking on a bench. Just as a cloud swept over the setting sun, the wind howled, "Itachi... Uchiha."

She repeated it to herself, "Itachi Uchiha... Itachi Uchiha.." She faced upwards and laughed innocently. Still walking, she sat the puppy down, knowing that it would follow. It's tail swayed back and forth as it paced around the two of them excitedly, sensing the relief and happiness of it's master.

_That's right, The Leader never told us her name... _Itachi glanced down at her gleeful figure. _No, she'll tell me when she's ready. _He looked forward again, "Hungry?"

The pinked haired girl looked up at him, "Yes, for a while now I've been sharing half of my meal with him," she said, glancing down at her puppy, "But it seems that hasn't been enough for either of us..."

Reaching into his pockets with his free hand, Itachi was wandering as to whether or not The Leader had given them any money. In his left pocket, Itachi felt a wad of paper. He pulled it out, and was relieved when he saw large rolls of green paper with surprisingly high numbers on each piece. _This is probably alot of money, I think it should be easy to feed us both with this. It was probably here in case we needed to pay for any information regarding our target..._

The cloud finally cleared the setting sun, as it was obscured by the ocean. The last rays of light pierced the sky, as the two opened a door into a small restaurant. There were only a small handfull of tables. At one end of the room, two people were sitting facing each and talking in quiet whispers. At the same time, a young waitress was cleaning off one of the tables, and looked up as the man and strange looking child entered. She sat down her cloth, brushed off her uniform quickly, put on a regular and friendly smile, and approached the two of them. "Hello, how may I help you?" She asked politely.

Crimson eyes met her emerald green eyes, "A table for two please."

She looked down and noticed the puppy, "I'm sorry sir, no pets allowed, store policy."

The pink haired girl looked to her puppy, then up at Itachi. "It's alright, I'll tie him up outside." She smiled brightly, "You get our table."

Guilt was tearing at his heart as he smiled back.

The waitress looked back up at him, "Right over here sir." She sat him at a table right next to the two people at the end, and placed two menus on his table, one on each side. "I'll be back with you in just a couple minutes," She smiled.

Itachi sat down, completely ignoring the menu.

The small child returned and sat across the table from Itachi. She excitedly picked up her menu and began examining her choices. After about a minute, she folded her menu and placed it back on the table. "Itachi, can I have anything I want?" She asked innocently.

He instantly realized she was going to order sweets, but decided that he may as well get her whatever she wants, "Of course," he smiled.

The waitress returned holding a notebook and a pen, "So, are you guys ready to order?"

The child looked up shyly, "I'd like dango please."

Itachi held back a laugh as he heard his ironic torture.

"Alright then, I'll get right on it," the waitress responded, writing on her paper. She looked over at Itachi expectantly.

His gaze met hers, "I'm fine..."

She nodded and walked back into the kitchen.

Looking at him curiously, the little girl tilted her head and raised an eyebrow at his comment. _What's with him? He seems so... upset? _She thought to herself. _After this we can... _She held her hands over her ears and leaned forward, "No..." She raised her gaze to meet Itachi's, and her eyes were filled with fear.

Itachi nearly couldn't face her, but forced himself to when he heard her sigh, 'No.' No longer wanting to be left in the dark, Itachi peered into her eyes with his Sharingan. _What is wrong with y... _He nearly lost his composure as he faced the truth about this child.

**Thanks everyone for reading. Please comment, positive reviews and construct****ive criticism would be appreciated! I'm really sorry if it sucked or anything... If there's just minor mistakes please tell me how to fix em, and if the mistakes are really big I could always stop, xD. Having Itachi be so kind to her is going to help her personality, however her instinct will remain the same. At the same time, Itachi is having a very difficult time acting happy around her, as he knows the fate he will soon bring her.**

**P.S.S.- In your review please leave a tip or something that will help, even if it's something small, like the name of the sweet Sasuke says he doesn't like. (I couldn't remember what it's called, and I looked for a while on wiki and even googled it and just can't find it, so even that will help me tidy up this chapter a bit.)**

**P.S.S...S?- Okay, I know, the P.S. thing is getting old, but, just wanted to say thx to those comments that told me what the food Sasuke didn't like was, dango. So I've fixed that, btw I'm working on making the next chapter longer Baka. XD thx for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**There may be a bit of action in this chapter, depending on what you view as action... Remember, if you have any tips or ideas PLEASE submit them in your review. Btw, Baka, you asked for a longer chapter... Here ya go!**

**Disclaimer: This site is called Fan Fiction dot net. If you cannot figure out from that that the following is a work of fan fiction and that the characters and the setting do not belong to the manual author, please contact your village head and inform him/her that your village is no longer missing its idiot.**

**P.S.- Hopefully I didn't make it to... I dunno, exciting is prolly not the right word... Thx everyone for your reviews, but Baka no Bakas has put a review on each chapter, so that's why I'm mentioning him here. Without the reviews of you guys I don't think I woulda made it past chp 1, oh, and thx for the naming of that food that Sasuke hates!**

Less than ten minutes ago, the sun had set. The birds had recently quieted, and on an empty street, in front of a small restaurant, a small puppy could be seen waiting patiently, staring at a clear glass door. The lights on the each side of the street flickered to life, and the occasional passing car was the only thing that managed to break the eerie silence that had recently begun to pervade the area.

The puppy stared at the glass door intently. It's tail had been wagging constantly for several minutes, however, all of a sudden, it lowered it's head and tucked it's tail in between it's legs.

Staring into her eyes, Itachi felt two separate minds. One had the innocent mind of a child, the other was laced with sadism, and cold, calculating, cynical thoughts. _I already know of the child's mind... However, what is this? _Itachi shivered as he peered into the cold, sadistic mind. Once inside, he found himself within a grey room that expanded indefinitely in all directions. In front of him, on her knees, looking down, was the pink haired girl with horns. Standing in front of her, was a young girl wearing nothing but a bandage that covered all of her face, save her left eye.

The girl with the bandages, standing up straight, was laughing, and suddenly focused her attention towards Itachi. She laughed, then spoke with a comforting, matter of face tone towards the pink haired girl, "It looks like that friend of yours isn't normal after all."

The pink haired girl looked up at her, confused, and then she saw Itachi. Tears began streaming down her face, which immediately went red with shame. She quickly refocused her attention towards the ground.

Itachi's attention was focused on the standing girl with the bandages. _I have never felt anything like this. Even the prideful Leader, or the vengeful Madara have never displayed such an aura. And this killing intent is matched only by that of a follower of Jashin. _Itachi's Sharingan focused into her left eye, "Who are you?"

Looking back into his piercing gaze, the girl was smiling wildly beneath her bandages. "Don't you know me?" She spoke with mocking sarcasm.

"Leave him alone, please..." The pink haired girl was sobbing as she grabbed the other girl's ankles.

Chuckling, the girl with bandages refocused on Itachi, after ignoring the pleads of the pink haired girl.

_Perhaps... This is what the Leader is after? _Itachi thought to himself.

The girl with the bandages looked up at Itachi questioningly, "Hm? What leader?" She asked with cynicism. She peered more deeply into Itachi's Sharingan.

Feeling her burrowing through his mind, he knew he had to act quickly. He closed his eyes, and then slowly reopened them... The three tomoe around his pupils had come together and formed a kaleidoscope. Itachi focused once again upon her unconcealed eye...

Immediately, the grey room began to swirl, and the pink haired girl found herself once again sitting at a table looking pleadingly into Itachi's eyes. _His eyes... They're, dark now. Weren't they crimson before? _His eyes were now black, and their focus was constantly shaking.

He closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply. As he exhaled, his eyes reopened, and were once again crimson. Noticing that she was still staring into his eyes, Itachi withheld his reaction. _This is no 'special ability', this child... _Sadness poured over him._ She isn't human. _

The kitchen door opened, and out stepped the waitress holding a plate of dango. She walked over to the two, and set it down in front of the pink haired girl, "Is there anything else I can get you two?"

Itachi looked up at her, his composure recovered, "No..." He sighed. He focused his attention on the table, deep in thought.

The pink haired girl looked to the dango and smiled shyly as she began eating.

The waitress smiled politely, nodded, and headed back to the table she had been cleaning before.

The scent, albeit irritating, was not bothering Itachi as much as he thought it would. The surprise of recent events, coupled with the fact that the child did not seem to understand the seriousness of what had just happened, took precedence over the nostalgic smell of dango.

Enjoying the sweet flavor of her meal, the pink haired girl glanced once again at Itachi as she recalled what had just happened. _He saw me there... _Her face turned red as she repressed her tears. _He probably hates me now, after seeing her... _She looked back down at her plate as she finished the last of her dango.

Itachi stared at the table, thinking deeply. _How can she have two minds?_ Outside, he heard the puppy bark twice, and the second bark was cut somewhat short. _Maybe it caught a mouse or something..._

The pink haired girl glanced over at the clear glass door for a second, but it was too dark outside to see.

"Excuse me, Miss..." Itachi stated lightly as he waved the waitress over. "We're done."

The waitress smiled, "Alright, I'll go get you your bill, and be back in just a sec." She headed into the kitchen.

Itachi and the pink haired girl faced each other, and neither could look the other in the eyes.

As she returned, the waitress placed the bill on the table, "Have a nice day." She headed back to the table she had been cleaning, picked up her cloth, and moved on to the next table.

Itachi glanced at the bill, and then felt as if he was being watched. His eyes immediately changed focus to the corner where the two shady looking people had been whispering to one another. As he looked over, they both turned away from him and continued whispering. After they turned away, Itachi held his gaze coldly. One of them noticed and glanced again at him, and locked eyes with him.

The man did not hold this gaze for long, as the grudge in his eyes faded. He looked back to the man he was whispering to, and, to that man's surprise, he stood. He had stood so quickly that his chair fell back, and he then pushed the table towards the man he had been speaking to. He quickly ran outside.

_I didn't expect him to do that, all I did was settle him down... _Itachi looked over at the man who was now sitting on the floor, his clothing stained with whatever the two had been drinking. He looked towards Itachi. Itachi me his gaze, and was amazed to see a light fear behind his eyes.

The pinked haired girl looked to Itachi curiously, and motioned for him to pay so they could leave.

Nodding his head, Itachi stood and, after leaving a small tip for the waitress on the table, he went to the register and payed his bill.

While he was doing that, the pink haired girl walked towards the door.

As Itachi turned around, he saw that the girl was opening the door, and, upon the sidewalk he thought he saw blood. He rushed across the room and stopped in front of the pink haired girl, preventing her from seeing the blood. Looking out, he saw that the puppy was gone, and he saw the blood leading away from the door and towards the information booth that he and Kisame had agreed to meet at.

Looking up at him, the pinked haired girl tugged at his right sleeve, "What's wrong?"

Itachi gritted his teeth, turned to face her, and placed upon his face a smile, "Nothing, could you wait here for a few minutes please? I have someone I need to say goodbye to, so... Just wait inside the store... Don't go outside, it may not be safe for a little girl to be outside in the middle of the night."

She sighed, "Okay..." _See? He's already embarrassed by you, he doesn't even want his friend to see you. _The girl backed up as Itachi left, and held her hands over her ears. _No, he just wants some privacy with his friend before he leaves... That's all._ She repeated this over and over as she sat back down at the table she had been at previously.

The man in the corned eyed her suspiciously...

_Dammit, the puppy is probably dead... _Itachi thought to himself as he walked towards the area he had agreed to meet Kisame at. When he reached it, down an alley he saw Kisame sitting against the wall, holding the puppy in his left hand. It was licking his hand.

Kisame looked up at Itachi, "Oh, Itachi, I was wandering how long till you got back. Someone left this cute puppy tied up outside at night, can you believe it?" Sighing, Kisame then said, "Sorry, I didn't find the target... That must mean you found her?"

Avoiding the subject, Itachi asked, "Why is there a trail of blood leading here?"

Tilting his head, Kisame suddenly recalled, "Oh, well... You see, I was walking down the sidewalk towards the puppy... Well, I untied him and picked him up, and stood for a minute, waiting to see if anyone was nearby. Just as I was about to walk away, some guy jumped out of a door and ran right into me!" Kisame looked down at the pavement, "I-I guess I got a bit carried away..." Looking towards the wall to his left, Kisame sighed.

Itachi followed his gaze, and saw the man from before laying against the wall, dead. He had a large gash in his side. "Kisame, you've got to clean up that trail of blood."

She had been waiting for several minutes in her chair, hoping Itachi would return soon. She was holding her hands over her ears more tightly than before, and she rocked her head from side to side, as she continued thinking that Itachi only wanted privacy with his friend.

The waitress eyed her with concern, and noticed the man in the corner slowly regaining his composure. He raised his head and noticed the pink haired girl shaking her head from side to side.

As the man in the corner stood up, he slowly headed towards the pink haired girl, whom still had her eyes closed, and her hands were still over her ears. He sat down in the chair across the table from her, and tilted his head. "What's wrong?"

Removing her hands from her ears, the pink haired girl slowly raised her head. Her eyes were open widely as she looked directly into his. Her typical shyness replaced with a broad smile. "Oh, nothing mister." _Let me show you how good it would feel to kill someone. _Spoke a comforting voice in her head. _Why do you want to kill so much? Who are you? _The pink haired girl thought to herself. _Oh, isn't it obvious? _

She found herself once again in the grey room, and the girl with bandages was staring down at her. The bandages fell off of her face, only to reveal the face of the pink haired girl with horns. _Wh-What? No... _Fear was smothering her. _I'm you. _The girl thought, smiling down at her.

"So anyway Itachi, where is she, the target?" Kisame eyed him curiously.

Itachi lowered his head, "Kisame, don't worry about the blood, I'll clean it up myself..." Slowly approaching him, Itachi held out his hand, gesturing for the puppy.

Kisame raised an eyebrow, but handed it over to him. _What's up with Itachi? He seems even more withdrawn than usual... And, why is he interested in this little thing?_

Raising the puppy to his chest, Itachi looked again at Kisame, "I still haven't found her."

Sighing, Kisame stood. "Really?" He eyed Itachi with suspicion, however, years of concealing his emotions made him impossible to read, even to an S Class Shinobi.

"You should search the western area of the city, I'll search the east," Itachi said, as he turned and began heading out of the alley.

Following him, Kisame watched as Itachi followed back along the trail of blood, and then he headed in the opposite direction. "Got it, meet you here in twelve hours."

"Yeah." Itachi said, still heading away from Kisame.

Kisame turned, "Oh, Itachi?"

Itachi looked back, "Hm?"

"One of us better find her, the Leader would be pissed if we were to fail."

Nodding, Itachi looked away from Kisame, "I know..." Itachi stood still as he heard Kisame's footsteps moving away. Still holding the puppy in his right hand, Itachi reached into another of his pockets with his left, and felt around for a cloth.

Pulling it out of his pocket, and still holding the puppy, Itachi bent down and began scrubbing away the blood. _I can't turn her in... No, I have to, if I were to fail, The Leader may be able to tell... If that happened, all that I've worked for all of these years would go to waste. _

While only seventeen, Itachi had displayed an incredible genius and wisdom in his last four years of working with the Akatsuki. Recently, he had driven away Orochimaru, whom had tried to steal his body. Orochimaru had extremely pale skin, long black hair, and snakelike eyes. Bit by bit, he had build up the trust and respect of the various members. He had never before failed in an assignment.

Recalling his most recent assignment, which occurred shortly after he had driven out Orochimaru. He, Kisame, and Sasori, the partner of Orochimaru, and the puppet master of Akatsuki, had embarked on this mission together. Sasori was seldom seen outside of his puppet, Hiruko, which had a short stubby appearance, and most of his body was covered with cloth. They had been sent to go after a reputed terrorist who was highly skilled with explosives that went by the name, Deidara.

Deidara, a blond haired man, who considered himself an artist, had a mouth on each hand, and had various other mouths in other places on his body. The assignment was to get Deidara to join Akatsuki.

While he was reluctant at first, Itachi had been able to convince Deidara to join. Deidara was Orochimaru's replacement.

The reason the Leader had sent Itachi on this mission was because Itachi had never once failed, and, if he were to do so all of a sudden, a different member might be sent after the Kyuubi, which could indirectly place Sasuke in danger. It was this that was driving him, and it was this that had forced him to do things that he would regret for the remainder of his life, however short that may be.

Glancing up, Itachi realized that he had strayed in thought, as he had just finished cleaning away the last of the blood.

He walked over to the pole that the puppy had been tied to, and retied it. _Hopefully I can spend one last day with her... _

The pain in his heart was nearly unbearable. _She's probably never once been happy in her life... I hope that... _Itachi sighed deeply, and closed his eyes. _I hope that I can make her last day a good one..._

Itachi stood up, cleared the sadness from his face, and turned towards the glass door. To the left, he could see the nurse standing against the wall, shaking heavily. The pink haired girl was sitting down, and sitting across the table from her was a man. In the center of the table sat the man's head.

**Thanks everyone for reading. Please comment, positive reviews and construct****ive criticism would be appreciated! I'm really sorry if it sucked or anything... If there's just minor mistakes please tell me how to fix em, and if the mistakes are really big I could always stop, xD. Lol sorry about that wacky cliffhanger, just getting a bit of writer's block, so, I decided to stop before I messed up the story. **

**P.S.S.- I'm a bit busy now, so it could be a few extra days till my next chapter comes out. Also, it's kinda cool to hear that someone is addicted to my story xD. Although it kinda puts some extra pressure on perfection.**

**P.S.S.S.- Lol, well anyway this is kinda an advertisement I guess... If you liked this please read my story, The Golden Shinobi, which was my first story. I wrote it a while back, and my writing style has changed alot since then but anyway, please read it and leave a few tips. Btw the main character is one of the uber characters I guess you could say... but still he has an enemy who can beat him. Although he isn't even revealed until the last chapter of the story, xD!**


	5. Chapter 5

**The extremely 'dark' feel of this story so far will be somewhat lifted, at least at the start, as this chapter begins in the land of the shinobi. Also, I'm finally gonna start developing a few more Akatsuki members, as well as Naruto himself!**

**Disclaimer: This site is called Fan Fiction dot net. If you cannot figure out from that that the following is a work of fan fiction and that the characters and the setting do not belong to the manual author, please contact your village head and inform him/her that your village is no longer missing its idiot.**

**P.S.- Hopefully I didn't ruin the mood I've set up in the last four chapters and make it too bright and ruin it, if I did, let me know in your review, I'll fix stuff, and if need be, I'll completely redo the chapter.**

Nature, often overlooked if one is constantly surrounded by its beauty, can be enjoyed simply by sitting back and staring. _It could even be considered a work of 'art', if viewed incorrectly, un?_ Thought the young terrorist, as he approached the area where he was to meet his new teammate.

Entering into the dark building, Deidara caught immediately the scent of not only blood, but wood shavings. _I can't believe he actually thinks this is art, nothing that sits around uselessly for so long could ever be beautiful. No, true art is-_

His thoughts were cut off, as his partner approached him. The sound of clapping wooden gears echoed throughout the damp room. Deidara focused his vision forward, still getting used to this darkness, "So, you're Master Sasori, un?" Having already met him when 'recruited' into the ranks of Akatsuki, Deidara was already showing signs of frustration.

Gears churned as the head turned up to face him, the cold, lifeless eyes peered into his, and, however eerie, the young blond did not seem to care.

A light sigh could be heard from within the Hiruko, as Sasori stated plainly, "You... Are late. In our time together, however short it may be..."

At this, Deidara allowed a small grin, "You must know... I hate to wait."

Meanwhile, in The Land of Fire, one of the most respected of the five Great Shinobi Nations, a young boy stared into the dirt from his tree-mounted swing.

The other children's parents cheered them on, as they had just become Genin, while he, the 'freak', as he was often called, turned out to be the only member of his class who actually failed the exams.

"I can't believe he almost made Genin," a woman whispered to her daughter. A nearby father overheard her, "Yeah, if he had, well... I'd have probably refused my child's graduation, and forced him to become a baker or something..."

_Why? _The young boy contemplated, ignoring the dark feeling he was having, _Why does everyone hate me? _Raising his face, a small light returned to him, _At the very least... I've had Iruka-Sensei all these years. If I had been alone, with everyone constantly hating me... _His thoughts trailed off, he stood, and left.

In his entire twelve years of life, only a small handful of people had ever shown him any kindness. Iruka-Sensei, the Hokage, and the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, along with his daughter...

The clean mountain air, as well as the scerene beauty of the area, met Deidara as he finally left the building, leaving Sasori to finish whatever project he was working on. _Bout time I got to leave, un?!_ He raised his face towards the clear blue sky_, I gotta get that damn Itachi back, and kill his petty Uchiha ass! Those eyes... They make a mockery of my art, un!_

As he slowly made his way down the mountain, Deidara glanced down at his new clothing. He was wearing the standard Akatsuki uniform, black, with red clouds painted in various areas across it. On his head he wore the typical 'hat' that the Akatsuki members would wear, in order to obscure their faces.

After several hours, Deidara had finally made his way into a small village. _Guess I'll rest here for the night..._ Then laughed inwardly. _And of course wipe out this village when they call for a payment at whatever inn I end up in. _

In the distance, the sun was finally beginning to set, as Deidara made his way down the center of the village, looking for an inn.

Finally, Deidara noticed a sign over one of the doors to a three story building. It read, 'Fiijui Inn.' _Heh, too bad for this Fiijui guy, un? Tonight, he'll think he gets a creepy looking customer. Tomorrow... He'll be dead. _Deidara giggled as he at last stepped into the building.

Instantly, Deidara's senses were overwhelmed by the scent of sake, heavy smoke clouding the air, and massive amounts of noise as this crowded room of people laughed and drank together merrily.

Deidara headed straight for the man standing at the counter, "I'd like the most expensive room that you have available." He said this somewhat loudly, as if bragging, however, no one seemed to pay him any attention.

Lightly glancing around the room in frustration, Deidara searched for any sign of someone caring. Over in a corner, he saw that there were two shady looking men whispering to one another, and giving him occasional glances. _Well, at least I got someones attention, un?_

Deidara sat at a table, after ordering a cup of sake.

Sitting quietly to himself, Deidara suddenly noticed that the two shady looking men in the corner had not yet ceased giving him the questionable glances.

Standing up quickly, Deidara immediately headed for them, an angry look stuck on his face. "What's up, un? You two have been givin' me the 'eye' ever since I came in here, wuddya want?!"

Before they could answer, Deidara felt a light twitch in his ring, _Find a safe place where you can sit still for a few days. _

Cringing at the men, Deidara pointed them one last look of rage as he stormed upstairs to his room. Pulling out the key that the manager had given him, Deidara unlocked his door, walked in, and quickly locked it back. He sat down on his bed, "What's up, Leader?"

A powerful voice echoed through his mind, _Assemble. _

Deidara found himself standing atop a massive finger, which belonged to the sealing statue that the Leader had summoned. His body was dark and transparent, and his voice was muffled with static.

Peering around the room, Deidara saw that there were three empty fingers, one for Orochimaru, one for Kisame, and the last for Itachi, _Damn bastard, un!_

"Where the hell is that bastard Itachi!?" Screamed Deidara at the Akatsuki Leader.

Peinquickly glanced over to him, giving him a curious look.

Understanding that he had just expressed his hate for Itachi, Deidara immediately attempted to cover it up, "Oh, um... And that fish-head Kisame, un?"

The Leader looked towards Deidara, and a light sigh could be heard, "Itachi and Kisame are... Away on a special assignment that I gave them, and are currently unavailable at this time."

Deidara gritted his teeth, _Damn that Itachi, getting special treatment, un!_

Up until just then, the puppy had been happily wagging its tail. As the door creaked open, it caught the scent of blood, and it instictively tucked its tail in between its legs.

Stepping into the small resturaunt, Itachi peered at the headless body, then at the girl sitting across the table from it. _It's true then... She does have a very unique weapon, but, why would she kill him?_

The pink haired girl stared straight down, holding back the many feelings that she was having. Her entire body was shaking, with fear, sadness, and... Excitement.

Itachi slowly made his way towards the girl, and eyed her warily with his Sharingan, _Hopefully, these arms are detectable by my Sharingan, otherwise... _Squinting, and, even nervous, Itachi lightly placed his hand on the girl's shoulder.

Sheswiftly shot her gaze upwards, staring straight into his eyes. They begged acceptance.

The pain shot through his heart once again, and Itachi stated, with a light warmness, "Let's go."

The girl stood, with Itachi's hand still on her back, as he slowly lead her towards the door, and her puppy.

Turning back, Itachi suddenly recalled the waitress. He lead the girl through the door, but did not quite follow. Before leaving, he stared into the eyes of the waitress, and helped her calm down.

As the door closed, the puppy's tail began wagging happily again, as the girl gently knelt down and untied it.

Slowly walking alone the sidewalk, neither Itachi, nor the pink haired girl had said anything, until Itachi finally stated, "Let's find a place for you to rest, you must..." Sighing, Itachi continued, "You must be tired."

They both began scanning around for a decent looking inn.

Block after block, they came up empty, and remained silent. Finally, after over an hour of looking, near the edge of town, was an old looking building. Above the door, therewas a sign, stating, 'Fijuii Inn.'

Walking in, Itachi suddenly recalled the name, _That girl from before, at the information booth, Akume Fijuii. Could her family own an inn? _As he glanced around the room, Itachi's eyes widened in shock, as he recalled the name from another place. Suddenly, he reached his hand in front of the pink haired girl and stopped her, and began scanning the room, which looked quite casual. At the counter stood a tired looking man, who looked like he'd rather be in bed. Only a small hand full of tables had anyone at them, and only a couple of them had people who were actually drinking.

Off in a corner, something caught Itachi's glare. _I see..._

Itachi stepped towards the man at the counter, "I would like a room..." Thinking, he glanced down at the pink haired girl, "With one single bed please."

The man looked at him with a small look of uncaring surprise, "Whatever, it's your money."

As the man reached down and pulled out a key, and a card, Itachi handed the man a small amount of money.

The pink haried girl followed Itachi upstairs, until they finally reached the door to their room.

Unlocking the room, Itachi walked in first. Near the window was a table with a single chair sitting at it. There was a television across from the bed, and on the right end of the bed was a single armchair. The door into the bathroom wasdirectly to the right of the entrance door.

The pink haired girl ran into the room and hopped onto the bed, then looked up at Itachi, "Um..." She blushed slightly, "Wh-why did you get a room with only one single bed?"

Itachi looked down at her, guilt tearing at his heart, and warmth showing upon his face, "Because, I won't be going to sleep."

Tilting her head lightly towards the side, she looked at him, "What? But, why not?"

Ignoring her, Itachi continued, "And I'm not going to let you sleep more than six hours, we have a big day tomorrow... And..."

Looking up at him, the feeling of suspense eating away at her, the pink haired girl asked curiously,"And...?"

No longer able to lock eyes with her, and almost losing his composure, Itachi stated very lightly, "W-We're going..." Itachi sighed deeply, and brought back the cold self he had become so accustumed to, "We will be going home tomorrow..." All emotion was now absent from his face and voice.

The pink haired girl smiled brightly, as she layed down, and allowed herself to drift to sleep.

Itachi walked towards the window, and sat down in the chair. Staring out into the blanket of darkness covering the ocean, he weeped inwardly. Regardless, his face remained completely void of emotion. At the same time that he hadbegan to weep, storm clouds gathered, and itstarted to rain.

The rain poured heavily, simply justifying the name of the village. A man with spiky, orance hair stood silently thinking, as he watched the rain. _Their time, is running short._

**Thanks everyone for reading. Please comment, positive reviews and construct****ive criticism would be appreciated! I'm really sorry if it sucked or anything... If there's just minor mistakes please tell me how to fix em, and if the mistakes are really big I could always stop, xD.**

**P.S.S.-Football season is finally over, so I'll now have a bit more time each day to work on my story. Also, if you happen to know the name of the 'hat' thingie that the Akatsuki members wear to obscure their face, please feel free to include it in your review, xD.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm really sorry I've gone so long without updating everyone... Other than just writer's block, I've been sick and have been having alot of trouble collecting my thoughts lately. Anyway, it's finally here, and just so you know, I WILL complete this story!**

**Disclaimer: This site is called Fan Fiction dot net. If you cannot figure out from that that the following is a work of fan fiction and that the characters and the setting do not belong to the manual author, please contact your village head and inform him/her that your village is no longer missing its idiot.**

Almost losing focus, the young blond remained irritated that Itachi was getting off easy. _I'll bet he's on some effortless mission, un! All while I'm here having to focus on this damn Phantom Nine Dragons! _Deidara glanced over towards the Akatsuki's extremely unlucky victim. _Heh, damn Jinchuuriki brat... And it's only a matter of time before I get one assigned to me._He laughed inwardly, anxious to show forth the depths of his frustration on the Fijuii Inn after this three day torture session was over.

The rain slowly began to let up, as the clouds finally parted. The grey sky was brightened by the rising sun. Itachi had been staring out the window, in deep thought, as it had been nearly six hours. He glanced over towards the pink haired girl, whom was lying quietly in bed. Had she been awake, even at her age, she would have been able to see through his weakened composure, and would have seen through the windows of his eyes, his tortured soul.

_I suppose... I guess I should go ahead and wake her up. Hopefully... _Itachi closed his eyes. Memories of his youth flooded back.

"Hey, big brother!" Sasuke smiled brightly, his blue, high collared shirt, and white shorts complimenting his happy mood, "Can you help me train with shurikens after I'm done at the academy today?"

Itachi smiled down at his younger brother, "I can't, I'm busy today, get Dad."

Sasuke frowned, "But big brother, you're better than Dad is with shurikens, even I know that!"

Itachi raised his hand, and poked Sasuke's forehead, "I'm sorry Sasuke..." He broke his brother's gaze, and looked down, masking his pain, "Another time, okay?"

Although Sasuke's frown grew, he smiled inwardly. _Good... I thought maybe something was wrong with him, but it seems he's back to normal...?_

As he stood, Itachi knew that he would be unable to face his brother again that morning. _I will... I will see him, tonight... _He walked silently, faced down, across the road, and towards the Hokage's Mansion. _Maybe... Maybe I can help him change his mind, maybe there is another way... _Itachi stopped, and squeezed his hands even more tightly. Holding back tears, it took every bit of willpower that he had to keep his face emotionless. _No... His order... It's absolute._

_Hopefully, I can help her be happy... On her last day. _Itachi cleared his face of emotion, and walked slowly over to her.

The horned, pink haired girl was curled up in a fetal position, completely covered by blankets, a small smile was evident upon her young face. There was finally someone she could trust, someone that cared about her.

As he reached down, Itachi suddenly realized that he still didn't even know her name. _When she's ready... She will tell me... Or maybe it's better if I never know her name. _He placed his hand on her shoulder, and shook lightly, "Hey, it's time to wake up."

Her eyes blinked open, and she quickly shivered and jumped out of bed, suddenly realizing where she was. _Oh... It's Itachi..._

Itachi gazed at her, "I'm sorry... Did I startle you?"

She couldn't meet his gaze, and looked straight down, "For a minute, I forgot I was with you... I thought I was still... At that orphanage..."

He grinned warmly, hoping to comfort her, "It's alright, go in the bathroom and clean up, then we can have some fun around town for a while before we go home."

Looking back up at him, the pink haired girl smiled happily, "Kay!"

Itachi headed back towards the window, to get one more look outside. Her innocent, childish joy burned his heart, regardless of the fact that he had spent so long in an attempt to harden it.

After several minutes, she emerged from the bathroom, smiling brightly, "So, where to first?"

Turning back to look at her, Itachi responded simply, "Well... How about breakfast?"

She blushed slightly in embarrassment, "Oh... Yeah, of course, sounds great!"

The odd pair headed downstairs, after Itachi had locked the door. He found a table with two seats, "Sit here, okay? I'll be back in just a minute."

Nodding slightly, she sat down, and waited patiently.

Itachi walked towards the man at the desk, and handed him his key, "Here, I'm done, thanks for the room."

The man nodded, smiling politely, "Not a problem, hope you had a nice stay, come again!"

He headed back towards the table, "Okay, let's go get something to eat, luckily this place has a free breakfast bar, so help youself."

After the two finished breakfast, they finally headed outside. After nearly six hours of rain, the pavement was wet, puddles were everywhere, and the sweet scent of recent rain pervaded the area. Regardless, the recent rain did not make the city seem gloomy, it seemed instead to have enhanced all of it's positive features.

Itachi and the pinked haired, horned girl traveled throughout the city together over the next five hours. They visited the zoo, the mall, several clothing stores, ice cream shops, and even a toy store. All the while, the pinked haired girl kept her puppy with her. Although she was now comfortable with Itachi, she couldn't abandon her first friend.

The pink haired girl's eyes widened, as she suddenly recognized where they were nearing. _Wh-Why is he taking me back here? This is where I... _"I-Itachi... I'm sorry... Why are we coming back to this restaurant. Isn't it about time that we headed... Home?"

He was completely unable to face her, and instead looked directly ahead at the alleyway that he and Kisame were to meet at, in around fifteen minutes. "Yeah..."

**Thanks everyone for reading. Please comment, positive reviews and construct****ive criticism would be appreciated! I'm really sorry if it sucked or anything... If there's just minor mistakes please tell me how to fix em, and if the mistakes are really big I could always stop, or rewrite the chapter, xD.**

**P.S.- Sorry about the shortness of this chapter, I decided to sum up their day, but I couldv'e made it long by describing their entire day, lol. Still, it had to end where it did. If you guys don't like how I summed up their day, just complain in your review, and if enough ppl complain about it I'll fix that and make this chapter a thousand words longer by playing out their entire day, although I'd prefer not too... Anyway... Later!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry I haven't updated in so long... Anyway, here you go.**

**Disclaimer: This site is called Fan Fiction dot net. If you cannot figure out from that that the following is a work of fan fiction and that the characters and the setting do not belong to the manual author, please contact your village head and inform him/her that your village is no longer missing its idiot.**

The day had begun to settle into a cool dusk. The chirping of birds had died down, the noise of people faded away; all the sound that remained was the everlasting ocean. It's waves crashing endlessly upon the shore, edging forward as much as they could each time, and each time, being pulled back from where they came.

Itachi's heart skipped a beat, he could feel Kisame's chakra drawing nearer. Although he had hoped it would never happen, he knew it would. The deadline for the Leader's summoning technique was fast approaching, there was no avoiding it.

The small horned girl looked up at him, puppy by her side. The slight pang of fear brushed away by the warm smile he provided her. Something was wrong, but Itachi wasn't worried. Her puppy's tail ceased its wagging, and was quickly tucked away. It brushed up against her, searching for comfort. Only ever the animals minded their innermost thoughts, however simple they may be. Instinct told it something was amiss, and it was worried.

At that moment, Kisame rounded the corner into the alleyway. Ahead, he saw a tall figure, looking down at a smaller one with a faint smile. It was Itachi, and the smaller one had horns... Their target no doubt. Below it was what appeared to be the puppy he had found earlier. It seemed as though either Itachi had chosen to hold onto it, or had found the girl the previous day. No, that was impossible. If that had been, why would he have sent Kisame to search for her, and gone searching himself. His mind had barriers upon its logic. Itachi was a twisted, evil, cynical man, one whom murdered his own entire family for no apparent reason. Knowing this, there is no way he would stall him like that. Yet, despite the barriers his mind had erected years ago, he knew the truth. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he knew Itachi had found her the previous day. But why would he lie?

"Itachi, it's good to see you again." Kisame stated light-heartedly, his gaze fixed upon the horned girl. In his periphrial vision, he watched Itachi with suspicion.

"Likewise," Itachi stated. His voice was like a blank slate, there was no emotion to read. If he was hiding something, Kisame would likely never find out.

The horned girl looked over towards Kisame, then back at Itachi, a discomfort obvious in her eyes. "Itachi, you know this guy? Why is his skin blue?"

Kisame's eyes widened instantly. She was comfortable with Itachi, and not only that, she was looking right through his Henge-no-Jutsu.

"She is extremely resilient to genjutsu. I had to use Tsukuyomi just to break her subconscious defenses." His face and voice retained their emotionless quality. Itachi was ever unreadable; however, the girl would be a different story, perhaps Kisame could catch clues from her actions.

_I told you something was strange about him. I knew he didn't like you. He is speaking as though you were merely a tool, or an object of disinterest to him. _The pink haired, horned girl was beginning to become worried. Should she kill him? Maybe she should just kill them both and go break into a house and kill the people there. She would be able to move from house to house freely, living in each a short period of time. _No, he's been nothing but nice to me. I must be misunderstanding what's going on. I'm his little sister now. This creepy blue guy who seems to know him must be an old enemy. Itachi will protect me. _

Kisame began stepping towards Itachi. The face that greeted him was instantly telling him to slow down. "We only have a matter of seconds. You knew that though, right, Itachi?" As he finished, he had continued walking towards Itachi, the horned girl, and her puppy. With his left leg, he pushed the girl and the puppy closer to Itachi. If it comforted her during her last moments of life, so be it.

Deidara stood up and stretched off the stiffness that had built up in him over the last day. _I thought that the sealing ritual was supposed to take three days normally. At least, that's what Sasori told me, and it seemed the Leader thought that too when he told me to get comfortable for a few days. How did we finish so fast, hm? Perhaps the Leader put in a bit more... Effort than he normally would, for whatever reason. _"Whatever, hm. It doesn't concern me." Deidara lept from the window of his room, and started off. His weariness from the ritual had caused him to forget his earlier thoughts of making art out of the inn.

_Where am I supposed to head to next? I think Sasori asked me to search for a jinchuuriki a hundred or so miles north of our meeting destination... Maybe going south thirty miles to get some rest wasn't such a good idea. _

A blue-like energy whirled upwards, seemingly out of nowhere. It enveloped all of them, Itachi, Kisame, the horned girl, and ever her puppy. It pulled them down, deep into the earth. Or was it up? All sense of direction had been lost... How long ago was it? Five seconds? Five minutes? Or was it more? _Where am I? It's almost like a dream. At least Itachi is here with me. Or is he? I can't seem to see, or-_

In a single instant, cutting off her thoughts, the four were transported in a dark cave. In front of them stood the static image of the Leader. "I see it was a success. Nothing less from my highest ranking team."

**I know it was short, but if you stop, the first few motions of starting the train again are always the slowest, right? Well, it's a decent analogy, but it doesn't really apply here. I'm just not going to commit myself to too much writing before I know if anyone still reads this. Please leave your reviews and let me know I still have readers. Oh... Also I'm feeling lazy... :p**


	8. Chapter 8

**Wow, thanks you guys for reviewing this so fast. (Especially you baka no bakas, I can't believe how fast you reviewed, almost like you were sitting, waiting for it xD.) Here you go, enjoy the chapter...**

**Disclaimer: This site is called Fan Fiction dot net. If you cannot figure out from that that the following is a work of fan fiction and that the characters and the setting do not belong to the manual author, please contact your village head and inform him/her that your village is no longer missing its idiot.**

**Thinks to self: _Maybe I should use a new disclaimer, humorous, serious, or something; maybe you guys could toss that into a review._**

The day had just begun. The aroma of the mountains in the morning pervaded the air. The creatures of the day began to awake. Chirping birds, scurrying squirrels, and the sun's first rays were breaking through the darkness left by the previous night.

Deidara had not stopped walking since he left the inn at dusk the previous day. _How much farther is this place, hm?! I think I've only gone about forty-miles. _Sighing, he allowed his thought process to continue. _Meaning, due to my thirty mile 'detour', I've only made fifteen miles. No way I can make it in time like this. _

He reached into a pouch on his left leg, and grabbed something out of it with his hand. His hand convulsed and squeezed, until finally, he appeared to toss whatever he had been fiddling with onto the earth in front of him. Through a mask of smoke, a large, clay bird was immediately visible. Deidara hopped on, and took off without a moment's hesitation.

Deep within a cave, the difference between day and night, morning and dusk, were invisible. The damp trickling of water, the light breathing of the cave's inhabitants, and the static of the Leader's image were the only things audible for quite a ways.

"Finding her was tougher than we though, eh, Itachi?" He glared not at Itachi, but at the small, horned girl.

Itachi's eyes closed, and he reopened them with a nearly tangible slowness. "Indeed, carrying out your order was somewhat more... Difficult than originally anticipated."

Pein's eyes widened only slightly, "Is that so? How?"

"The orders were carried out, as is plainly visible. What exactly did you plan on doing with her?" Neither his voice nor face betrayed him. Itachi remained unreadable.

The small girl began backing away from Itachi, still somewhat in a daze from the trip. Had she heard him right? Itachi didn't really care about her, he was just following some order to capture her? _I told you he was nothing but trouble. If you had just listened to me from the start, you wouldn't be feeling as you do now._ There was a slight pause in her thoughts._ No, maybe I didn't hear him right. He's been so nice, so caring, he loves me, I'm his little sister now, right? _The cynical little voice in her head spoke on. _He never cared about you, he was just lying so you would come with him peacefully. Everyone here thinks you're a freak, because to them, you are. _

His widened eyes quickly returned to normal, however, rather than facing them all, the center of his attention was turned towards Itachi. "A bijuu was recently extracted. Had I allowed it to proceed at the normal rate, the two of you would have been trapped in that world forever. As such, I was forced to... Hurry it along. Because of this, my chakra reserves are lower than I would like..."

Itachi looked at him, almost expectantly. "Yes?" Kisame questioned. The horned girl and her puppy, although terrified at this point, were trying to follow the conversation, to no avail.

A sigh could almost be heard through the static, "I need you to hold on to her for a while, until my chakra reserves have recovered."

Barely able to contain himself at this point, Itachi asked, "For how long?" He had just betrayed her, there was no way she would stay with him as she had before. He needed to end this, soon, before his allegedly 'faint' emotions took over and caused him to do the right thing.

"Unfortunately, I'm not sure. The time will likely be at least six days. Anyway, during this time, the two of you may go your seperate ways. Simply meet back up here on the sixth day. Of course, if it turns out to require more or less time, I will inform you." Glancing from Itachi to Kisame, then to the horned girl, Pein came to a remarkable conclusion. "As she seems to have taken a liking to you," he stated carefully, "You can keep her with you during these six days." _I always suspected there was more to Itachi's story than he let on. He didn't kill his family out of cold blood after all... Perhaps that arrogant fool Madara had decieved him into it somehow. _

Itachi's response was almost visible, however, he yet again succeeded in concealing it. _He suspects me, his powers of perception are far greater than I imagined. I wander how much he knows. And not only him, Kisame seems to have a faint, lingering feeling that something is off as well. _He thought carefully of his response. Because of the way the Leader had worded it, accepting this proposal, since it was, indeed so, rather than an order, would be difficult. "She has a strong resilience to genjutsu. She saw straight through Kisame's disguise, and obviously had an immediate distrust of him. It is as you say, she likely has less..." Pausing, Itachi caught himself from losing his composure, "Hatred of me for taking her from whence she came than she does of Kisame." Carefull to avoid lying, Itachi managed an explination that did not require his own, personal emotions. "I will keep her with me for the time allotted." Itachi reached down for her hand, and gave her the same look he had back at the orphanage.

Terrified, the horned girl was not sure whether or not she could still trust him. Had he betrayed her, or was he just tricking these people. _He may be the only person I know, if we are in a different world. I have no choice but to trust him for now. Maybe I will kill him later if the need arrises. Until then, I have to rely on him to keep me alive. _The line between the two minds had become blurred. The 'girls' were now nearly of one mind.

Kisame walked away from the cave, and quickly out of sight. The three alive in the cave watched him as he left, but the Leader's eyes never once strayed from Itachi's face. "Good work, Itachi. You are dismissed."

**Well let me know if you liked the chapter. If you have any suggestions, please voice them in a review. If you don't have any suggestions, please review on your opinion of the chapter anyway lol. Btw, to avoid a misunderstanding, by "The three alive in the cave" I was not including Pain in that, as he is merely a hologram... or something (not really sure, anyway, the dog is still alive.)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks everyone for all of your reviews on my latest couple of updates to this. I'm constantly amazed at how so many people are enjoying my ideas. :) Anyway, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: This site is called Fan Fiction dot net. If you cannot figure out from that that the following is a work of fan fiction and that the characters and the setting do not belong to the manual author, please contact your village head and inform him/her that your village is no longer missing its idiot.**

The pouring rain pervaded the area. The various sounds of the village quickly died down as the rain strengthened. Birds flew to cover, and the smaller ground animals quickly hid deep within their holes. Normally, it was scheduled to rain only on Sundays, however, in light of recent events, he had become slightly 'concerned' with the reliability of a few of his members.

Pein watched carefully when Itachi reached his hand down towards the horned girl. His eyes caught every emotion visible upon her face, as Itachi kept his blank. She was terrified, searching for comfort, and had a hint of betrayal. Still, there was something else, something more sadistic hidden beneath the surface. Noticing this proved far more difficult; it was as if he was trying to read two people in a single spot.

Despite herself, she reached up and grabbed his hand. Itachi's face remained blank, but Pein nearly caught a nostalgic smile forming. He quickly led her away from the cave, to wherever it was he brooded away his time when there was no mission available.

_Interesting, very interesting... Could it be some sort of disorder, or is having multiple minds in a single body a common thing among what could have been her kind? Regardless, everything has gone according to my design, and Itachi's next trial is about to begin. How much will it take to expose his true self? He claims to fight for ideology, and I will allow his bluff to stand; but still... I suspect he is fighting for... Peace. I can't approach him about this until I am certain. If he is in fact a villain, I cannot allow him to know the Akatsuki's true goal. _

* * *

Not far from the cave, the area quickly became mountainous, a lush green forest covered the landscape.

Walking alongside her was difficult, far more so than he had feared it would be. _It is doubtless, the Leader suspects me. I have no idea how strong he is, but I'm certain if he discovers my true self that he will have me eliminated. Whether he does it himself or sends several other members is irrelevant. Once he finds out, everything I've done thus far will be in vain. I have to hide my feelings, even from her... At least, for now. I still don't know his plans for her. _

"Big Brother, where are you taking me?" She asked suspiciously, attempting to hide this suspicion with fear. _He's just taking us to live with him for six days, didn't you listen to his boss? _

Itachi looked down at her, his pity hidden behind his ever emotionless face, "I know of a small house on a mountain not too far from here. We're going to live there for the next few days." Itachi allowed a small amount of concern into his voice.

Glancing down at her puppy, "Wh-Why did you adopt me, really? I know you're not going to be my brother. I will stay with you, but I cannot live with you knowing you're still lying to me... Even if it is only for a short while."

He knew the question would be coming soon, and he had figured out an answer already, however, the delivery was far more difficult than he had though it would be, "I work for an organization, and that man back in the cave was its leader. He ordered me and my partner, Kisame, to bring you away from the orphanage and back into our world. He knew you were developing unique powers, and would soon set them loose upon that world. He wanted me to bring you here to protect that world. As for what he intends on doing with you, he has not told me yet." _It was the truth, mostly, he likely didn't care about what she did to that other world, but saying that could paint a better picture for her of our group. _

Suddenly, the girl stopped, all emotion disappeared from her face, and her puppy began backing away, its tail between its legs. Then, to Itachi's surprise, she grinned, "I thought it was something like that. He's going to experiment upon me, isn't he? Do you really think I'll just let you take me away like this?"

Itachi's blank face instantly changed into combat mode, "You are not the girl I have had with me all this time. You are the other mind that has been tormenting her. Please don't get involved with us, I would rather not crush you again." Memories of their previous face off inside her mind flooded back to him.

His Sharingan quickly adjusted as two of her strange arms were thrust towards him. Catching sight of them, he leaped away. They were no longer than two meters, avoiding them shouldn't be difficult. Just as he though the had her figured out, he spotted bark being torn from a tree behind her.

_Impressive, he can see our 'other' hands. _She was shocked as the pieces of bark she tossed at him, strong enough to pass right through a tree, were both caught by a single hand. "B-But how? That's impossible!"

He sighed, "You will find that the people in this world are far more capable of handling themselves than those in yours. You're blood lust is greater than any I have ever seen, but at your level, you would have a difficult time even with the weaker shinobi." His tomoe pulled themselves together, and formed a kaleidoscope as he stared into her frightened eyes.

Instantly, his eyes returned to normal, and her bloodlust faded. "I'm sorry, Itachi, I lost myself." The puppy returned to her side, and they continued along their way.

* * *

The blue sky and the rushing wind greeted him as he cleared mountain after mountain riding upon his enormous piece of 'art.' _I should be getting close, hm. As he's made it plainly clear, he hates waiting, so I can't waste any more time. _

Deidara could then see the small building they were to be meeting at. Strangely placed alone, near the top of a mountain. He jumped off of his creation and unmade it in a cloud of smoke. He had landed right outside of the building. Not far off, he was certain he felt a familiar presence, a powerful, tempered chakra. Beside it was something unlike he had ever felt, but he shook it off, as being any later was unacceptable.

Stepping inside, Deidara was surpised to find the place livable. Sasori was outside of his Hiraku, cleaning some of his puppets as he waited.

"So, what was the purpose of meeting here, hm?" Deidara questioned, not really curious.

"Since you're a new member, I took it upon myself to show you one of our safe houses that we have placed around the mountains. If you search in the back room, you should find a map that has a list of most of our safe houses in the area. Since you've obviously been hurried, I suggest that you settle down and rest for the night."

Deidara sighed visibly, "You're right about that, hm." Deidara stepped into the kitchen, searching for something to eat.

* * *

About an hour later of nonstop walking, the house was finally visible. Itachi led the child and her puppy towards the front entrance, and placed his hand upon the sliding door. Pulling it open, he was surprised to see Sasori and Deidara inside, and it was easily apparent upon their faces that they were surprised to see the girl.

"What do we have here? Itachi has taken up charity work, hm?"

**Well let me know if you liked the chapter. If you have any suggestions, please voice them in a review. If you don't have any suggestions, please review on your opinion of the chapter anyway lol. **


	10. Chapter 10

"So what, have you taken up babysitting now, hm?"

The storm clouds had begun gathering well over an hour ago, and the mountains were covered by their shadow. A small, innocent looking cottage was hidden beneath a large number of trees. And just as the first thunder cracked, Itachi looked at Deidara, whom he could tell bore an unbased hatred against him, and took a step foward with the pinked haired girl's hand firmly gripped.

Frustrated at being ignored, Deidara pressed the question, "What's up with those horns? Is she a Jinchuuriki, hm?" At this, the pink haired girl lowered her gaze towards the floor. At the same time, Itachi decided to respond, "She is an assignment, but not a Jinchuuriki..."

Deidara became interested, "Well if she isn't a host, why would Leader send you after her, hm?" Sighing, Itachi responded again, "It is no concern of mine. A mission is a mission... Now if you will leave me to it?"

Sensing a hint of frustration at the end of Itachi's response interested Sasori, as Itachi never showed emotion on any mission, he was considered the most callous man in the Akatsuki. "Your vagueness has always tested my patience, Itachi; Why does she have horns? Some Kekkei Genkai I'm not familiar with?"

Itachi glared towards Sasori, knowing that he couldn't actually see the face of the puppet master, he still was able to detect the curiousity that was building within. "My mission was to obtain her from her... Home. Now my mission is to watch her for a week while Leader prepares. Neither do I know, nor do I care about her horns or abilities." The tone of Itachi's words were final, he would ignore any further questions. Luckily for Deidara and Sasori, they both felt it, and began preparing to leave the cottage.

Of course, Deidara was reluctant, but too smart to press a subject of such minor importance.

Itachi and the pink haired girl stood in silence for several minutes after the door was closed, then Itachi looked down at her, the cold look permanently upon his face at this point, "Get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll be going into the nearby village. I doubt you would want to stay in the same place for very long."

When he finished speaking, Itachi began towards a bedroom; he walked inside and closed the door. The pink haired girl stood there, alone, and terrified. 'But you aren't alone, I'm here... I'll always be here.' 'Y-You again?' The other one laughed silently, 'Of course. Now, why don't you just leave? Who could stop you? If he is sleeping, there is no way he would notice.' 'I already thought of that, but we know nothing of this world. Well, there is one thing...' The bandaged one glared at her, 'Oh?'

The pink haired girl began looking around, and quickly found a spot to sit, 'That everone in this world is strong like him, and they can all see our arms.' 'Ah, but you need to see into things a little more. Obviously, he is some sort of secret agent or something. He's probably way more powerful than the majority of people in the world.'

This revelation shocked the pink haired girl, and what hit her harder still was that she could think of no way to argue with that logic. 'Now that you mention it, he and that blue guy walked into a dark, damp cave and spoke with a hologram or something after they had me. It seemed like he was their boss. You must be right, he lied to keep us from trying to escape.'

The other grinned widely, 'Yes! Now let us leave!' Again, the pink haired girl became skeptic, 'But we're in the middle of the mountains, we have no idea how to get to any other people. We would just get lost and probably starve. It seems like a bad idea.' No response, she really was alone.

The pink haired girl curled up into a ball as best as she could to keep warm, and fell asleep. When she woke, she found Itachi looking out the window towards the clouded sky. It had started to rain lightly. Dressed fully in Akatsuki attire, Itachi looked towards the pink haired girl. To her surprise, he held another set of clothing that matched his, black robe with red clouds, hat thing with bells, undergarments, and even sandals. However, they looked like they were her size.

Itachi walked over towards her and set them down in front of her, and she simply stared. Then he walked back over to the window and continued staring at the clouds. The pink haired girl got the message, and quickly changed into the new set of clothing. Despite all that had happened, she couldn't help but feel a little excited, thinking the new clothing made her look cool.

As she finished strapping on the sandals, Itachi opened the front door, and she hurridly walked towards him. She reached and grabbed his hand, which he had left available. They then walked out into the rain, and down the mountain. He lead her several miles, and the walk took a good six hours. Finally, a village was in sight, and no more than ten minutes ahead.

"I-Itachi? Wh... What's the name of the village?" The pink haired girl asked nervously. However, Itachi ignored her, and continued walking forward. She decided not to press the question, as she noticed that the village looked in same ways old, and in others modern. There were power lines, but the construction was primitive.

Even the bandaged one was impressed by the difference, 'We truly are in a different world, aren't we?' Just as the bandaged one had asked her that in her mind, Itachi glanced towards her, then continued forward. As they were making their way into the village, the pink haired girl noticed how no one would really look at them for more than a second or two. The clothing didn't seem to help them blend in too well, instead making people nervous or uncomfortable.

As they passed by a small rice stand, Itachi heard the mention of Konoha. Quickly, he stopped and headed towards the speaker. He tapped them on their shoulder for attention, and asked, "What was that you said about Konoha?" The man looked back at him, "Have you heard? Word is that Legendary Sannin Orochimaru attacked Konoha. He did alot of damage, and the Third Hokage died fighting him off."

At this, Itachi nearly stumbled back. Itachi quickly nodded the man a "Thank you" and proceeded quickly towards a resturant. He sat down with the pink haired girl and ordered the day's special, all the while thinking about how he should handle the situation in Konoha. He stood up and grabbed the attention of the waitress. He quickly hypnotized her with his Sharingan into watching the pink haired girl while he went down an alley.

Itachi leaned back against the wall in the alley and used his ring to contact Leader. Quickly, his vision of the area faded out, and he found himself in a dark cave, facing the projection of Leader. A menacing, commanding voice then asked him, "What is it, Itachi?" Itachi maintained his cool, "I heard that the Third Hokage has been killed by Orochimaru. Now would be a perfect time to obtain my Jinchuuriki, the village's defenses are probably much weaker than normal."

The eyes of Leader focused on him for a moment, "Yes, but what to do about your target?" "I could simply bring her with myself and Kisame. We could drop her off at an inn and lock her in the room while we obtain the Kyuubi." The leader of the Akatsuki forced his gaze more heavily on Itachi than before, trying to read him, "I am impressed by your interest in this. You may go. But beware Itachi, locking her in a room may not be enough, do not forget about her abilities. It would probably be safer to knock her out yourself." Just as the statement finished, Itachi found himself back in the alley, and went back to the resturaunt, where he found the pink haired girl eating ravenously.

After she finished her meal, Itachi paid the bill and stood up. He motioned for her to follow, and she did so immediately. Itachi began walking out of the village, and continued walking for several more hours.

The pink haired girl had begun to stumble. As she appeared no older than eight, Itachi was impressed that she had kept up with him this long. To the pink haired girl's weary surprise, Itachi began walking off-road. She was hoping he would notice how tired she was, not make the trip even more difficult.

After roughly five minutes of walking away from the road, Itachi stopped, "We will camp here tonight." With that, the pink haired girl laid down against a tree and fell asleep instantly. However, Itachi remained on lookout the entire night.

The next day, Itachi woke up the pink haired girl before the sun had begun to rise in the sky and began walking again. They walked for several more hours before coming to a small hut in the mountains, not too different than the one they had been in before, aside from the fact that this one had a chimney.

Itachi walked in the front door and saw Kisame reading something as he took a sip of tea. "Ah, Itachi. What brings you here?" Kisame immediately noticed the pink haired girl standing behind Itachi, and he saw just how tired she was. At the same time, he caught that Itachi's typical coldness was back completely.

"Kisame, we're heading to Konoha immediately. Orochimaru has just finished an attack on it, and it is more vulnerable now than it may be again for a long while. We are to capture the Kyuubi."

Immediately Kisame chugged down his tea, grabbed Samehada, and followed Itachi away from the hut and down the mountain.

The three got along nicely, with Itachi being always in the middle of the group, Kisame being on his left, and

the pink haired girl being on his right. After a day of non-stop travel, Itachi knew they were less than a mile from Konoha's walls.

He went to an inn on the side of the road and bought them a room. Kisame waited outside while the pink haired girl followed Itachi in. Once in, Itachi wasted no time knocking the pink haired girl unconscious and leaving with Kisame.

(What follows is Naruto Cannon until Jiraiya chases the Akatsuki pair away.)

When she awakes, the pink haired girl sees Itachi standing over her, and notices Kisame waiting outside the open door. Both seem a bit shaken, and Itachi's eyes are a charcoal color, rather then their usual crimson. Kisame has a cut on his right cheek.

'They must have been in a fight or-' The pink haired girl's thoughts are cut off as Itachi grabs her hand, pulls her up, and leads her out of the room.

The pink haired girl can't help but notice the defeated feel that both Kisame and Itachi bear as she travels with them for another two days.

Finally, they come upon a cave not so different looking from the one that she was originally brought to. Itachi performs a quick hand sign and the boulder covering the entrance rises, and inside is the hologram of the Leader.

His powerful voices echoes throughout the cave as he speaks, "I see the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is not with you. What happened?" Kisame is the first to speak up, "That legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, is following him around."

Itachi, and even the pink haired girl both notice the sudden change in the Leader's eyes when Jiraiya's name was mentioned. In an insant, however, they return to normal, "I see, that will delay us some... Placing the matter aside for the moment, you have done well in watching over the other target for the last while, Itachi, it is time I take her off your hands. Both of you may leave, and girl, you must stay here."

The girl looks down at the dirt as fear grips her heart. Just as Itachi and Kisame are leaving the cave, she notices Itachi quickly glances back at her. "Itachi!"

His pace slows a little, but he turns his head back towards the cave exit and does not stop.

"Itachi! On that day we met, you told me your name, but I never told you mine... It's... "

He and Kisame continue walking away, and just before the boulder falls down all the way, Itachi is able to make out one last word from her...

"Kaede."


	11. End

The rain was pouring, as it often does in the depressing city. Eyes looked out into the rain, and over the city. Pein watched Amegakure, as he did every day. He stared at it with his Rinnegan, and he felt it with his rain.

_Itachi has played his part perfectly. The power of the Queen Diclonius is now under our control. The first piece to 'That' puzzle is in my hands at last. Still, there are other targets that must be acquired…_

"So what now?" Kaede asked the image of Pein, the Akatsuki Leader. "Now you must come to me." Kaede had, at this point, allowed her evil alter ego, dubbed by the organization she would never meet as Lucy, to take her over.

Pein's hologram performed several hand signs, and then thrust its right hand into the ground, grunting slightly. Immediately, Kaede saw the world around her swirl away, and change.

She stood now on the mouth of some gigantic statue, overlooking a colossal, futuristic city, in which the rain poured endlessly, in all directions. Directly behind her stood a figure, no taller than the average man. He had spiky, orange hair, and his face and ears were covered in piercings. What stood out most to Kaede were his eyes.

_I thought Itachi had intimidating eyes… This man is… He is not quite like me… I am a species aside from humans, aside from someone like Itachi. However, he is… Above… He is above humans. Sleepless vigilance, tireless heart, and an infinitely complex mind… I am in the presence of…_

"You are in the presence of a god. I am the god who will restore order to this world, and bring about permanent peace to its people. You will be the first piece to a massive puzzle. First, I must train you… I must make you, one of us."

**This is a teaser, or maybe a foreshadowing. Interpret it however you like. But, in the event you didn't get this story, just take comfort in knowing it's part of a much larger story I'm making, which will involve the Akatsuki meddling in numerous other series. Please leave a review on what you thought of this story, and if you're interested, a request as to which Akatsuki member you'd like to see in my next story.**

**P.S. - I was thinking maybe I should also write a followup of this to playout Kaede's life in the Narutoverse. If you like the thought, just lemme know, all I need is a little encouragement.**


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